Top Indian cricketers will play in Lanka

PTISep 9, 2002, 08.30pm IST

KOLKATA: The month long crisis over the ICC sponsorship issue blew over on Monday with the Indian Cricket Board deciding to send its top players to the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka after the International Cricket Council climbed down further and made a compromise offer.

The Indian team will be led by Sourav Ganguly and have all the top stars including Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, Cricket Board president Jagmohan Dalmiya said after a lengthy worldwide tele-conference with ICC and the participating countries.

The dramatic resolution came after ICC agreed to bear all the expenses that may arise out of legal complications flowing from the controversial contract that bars players from advertising for companies that have a clash of interest with the official sponsors.

While the Indian players struck a deal with the ICC, the Board had taken a tough posture and had given the players time till 1400 IST on Monday to sign the contract or be left out of the team for Sri Lanka.

After the players rejected the Board's ultimatum and conditions, BCCI's Selection Committee met here and picked a second-string team to be headed by veteran all-rounder Robin Singh but witheld its announcement till the tele-conference was over.

The players, who were given the two-day ultimatum on Saturday, finalised their strategy last night and sent a letter to the Board president expressing their inability to accept the conditions set by BCCI.

The players said it was not a question of money but one of "principles and integrity".

Following this, Dalmiya issued a brief statement in which he sarcastically referred to the players' stand on principles and said the Colombo tournament would be played very much for money.

He also directed the Selection Committee to go ahead with the job of choosing a second-string team, saying India was "morally and legally bound" to play in mini World Cup in Sri Lanka.

But he kept enough room for manouevre saying that the selected team would not be announced till the ICC concluded its tele-conference.

The details of the latest deal between ICC and BCCI are yet to be made public.

Tracing the day's developments, Dalmiya said the tele- conference lasted two hours during which the issue of damage claim on the Board was discussed.

He said the Board had taken the unprecedented step of allowing the players to negotiate directly with the ICC and welcomed the outcome of those negotiations.

But surprisingly, Dalmiya said, the ICC came up with a damage claim and the Board had to go to the Working Committee.

"We then decided that only those players who sign the Players' Terms will be eligible for selection. This morning, the ICC requested me to postpone the decision of the Selection Committee.

"But I said since only 72 hours were left for the tournament, let us go ahead with the scheduled meeting but we can withold announcement of the decision taken by the meeting till an agreement is reached between us," Dalmiya said.

Expressing happiness over the new agreement, Dalmiya said a model contract would be sent to the ICC and the redrafted agreement would be received by the Board in a couple of days which the players would sign.

He said any financial consequences arising out of the Champions Trophy would be borne by ICC Development International, the financial arm of the world governing body.

Dalmiya said the Board stood by its commitment to compensate the players for any claims made on them by their sponsors arising out of bar on personal advertising for 35-days -- 18 days during and 17 days after the tournament.

About the 24 players who had signed the ICC agreement, he said the Board appreciated their gesture and would reward them suitably.

Dalmiya said in the world-wide tele-conferencing almost all the chief executives of the member countries participated to arrive at the decision to break the deadlock which had threatened the Champions Trophy.

"The things are now settled and we are quite happy at the conclusion", he said.

"Though we have not received anything in black and white now, we understand that terms as agreed upon between the players and the ICC and as decided at the tele-conferencing will reach us by tonight to formalise the entire thing", Dalmiya said, adding that this concession was granted by ICC for Champions Trophy only.

Asked whether he had any discussion with the players on Monday, Dalmiya said he had spoken to skipper Ganguly on Saturday when the Board's Working Committee had met in New Delhi.

He said he had a seperate talk with ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed after the tele-conference.

The Board president justified his stand of not going to London to speak to the Indian players and said even if he had gone there he could not have offered any concession to the players since it was an ICC contract.

"That is why at the expense of being criticised I allowed the ICC to speak directly to the Indian players", he said.

The team, which concluded its 83-day England tour on Monday, would leave London on Tuesday to participate in the Champions Trophy beginning on Thursday.